Parents: School Lunches
Replies
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We have our kids (11 and 7) pack their own lunches. Choices range from leftovers, lunch meat and sliced cheese, peanut butter. There are chips/pretzels but baked or the more natural kind (Snikiddy for example) and plenty of fruits and veges. The general rule is they are not supposed to throw anything away but bring it home so they can explain why they didn't eat whatever it was. Some stuff comes home but not a lot. I think most of that is because they have ownership over their lunch. We send them in with all natural fruit juice sometimes but mostly water.
Good luck finding the balance that works for you and your family.0 -
My daughter was and still is a hot-lunch person (now almost 17) and I try try try so hard to get her to be healthier...we are a very healthy family. I try to educate her on better lunch choices at least.
My son, is 6 and he HAS to have a packed lunch, after all he has MULTIPLE common food intolerances. He's going to be getting everything from:
baby carrots
apple slices, pears
raisins
gluten-free sandwich; turkey meat, mustard
gluten-free organic chicken nuggets
v8 fusion to drink, or v8 sparkling fusion, water, 100% juice, organic juice/grape/apple, vanilla rice milk, selzer water
Applegate organic 100% beef hormone/antibiotic-free hot dogs (no buns), possibly in gluten/dairy-free mac 'n cheeze I make him
Homemade casseroles; usually organic, gluten and dairy free but TASTY with green beans
Leftover steak from time to time (cut up for him)
Burgers, turkey burgers, chicken patties, buffalo burgers (no cheese, no bun)
Coconut milk yogurt, he likes plain or vanilla
rice cakes
rice crackers
refried beans/burritos made with corn/dairy-free cheeze/meat
pepperoni slices, turkey pepperoni
crunchy corn sticks by Pirate's Booty
gluten-free/dairy-free cold pizza
Gluten-free cookies/cupcakes from time to time
green, red, purple grapes
white rice, brown organic rice with something like chicken, organic soy-sauce/teriyaki
pancakes and turkey sausage or turkey bacon (my son does not mind cold gluten-free pancakes)
granola
homemade gluten-free cornbread, corn dogs (I make healthier versions of all of these).
Homemade chicken strips
bananas
Invest in a cold/hot bag.
I think school lunch is crappy! I worked at a school for a couple of years and would bring my own lunch, when I didn't once or twice I was UTTERLY shocked at the gross offerings they had. All greasy, no nutritional value whatsoever, all very modified foods, processed, overly salted/breaded/white flour/bad fats...etc.
I am even more shocked at how HORRIBLE hospital food is. It's likely to put you back in the hospital.0 -
bumping to read later0
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The high school I went to has a post secondary/high school cooking program. The food is FANTASTIC! It is quite healthy...sandwiches on whole wheat bread, meals with brown rice and veggies. I'm just realizing how extremely lucky that was after reading all these stories about school lunches!0
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Mind you this was in the 50's andearly 60's, but the schools I went to, they actually prepared a fresh meal daily, i remember great rolls,beets and other yummy foods. we looked forward to lunch. Now days its some prepackaged crap according to goverment guidelines. they charge more for less too. It seems to me they would save money buying in bulk and actually make the workers do their job in this area.0
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My daughter gets a salad every day. She loads it up with nuts, eggs and chick peas and a good amount of veggies. Yes, she probably puts a ton of ranch, but better than a slimey pizza.
My sons will not touch the elementary lunches. My 11 year old is a big kid - 5'5 and 110 pounds and growing like a weed. I have to send him with a couple of boiled eggs, PB&J, apple or banana, a kashi bar and a homemade cookie for snack. He does have access to a microwave because he is in special ed and he will take chicken fajitas, leftover meatloaf and roast potatoes if he is "super hungry" He eats all day long!
My 8 year old likes a PB and nutella, banana and a kids cliff bar.. SAME thing EVERY day. Makes life easy.
I also pack my boys 2 cartons of almost frozen milk. By the time they get to lunch it is good to go.
Maybe I'm a big dumb male... Ok, I'm a big dumb male... but... I though Kashi Bars and Nutella fell into the "bad" catagory?
Honestly, try the Kashi Peanutty Dark Chocolate bars. 130 cal, 5g fat, 4g fiber, 7g sugar, and 4g protein. While I would never consider them top-notch nutrition, I try eat one of those instead of the Swiss Cake Rolls I used to grab from the vending machine.0 -
My thoughts:
1) The idea that they're charging him full price to go get a snack cake is ridiculous.
2) I hope you still allow your child to have some sweets in an otherwise well-balanced diet.
3) I don't think there's any issue with cold food. I say pack his lunch every day.
4) I wouldn't get too caught up in what food is "good" and what is "bad". The diet as a whole is of importance.0 -
Here in Australia we have the option of giving the kids money to buy food, or packing it for them - no school provided meals here. I have a kid in pre-school now, and the restrictions they put on foods are crazy! eg No nuts or sesame seeds at all (potential allergy reasons).
No junk food is allowed AT ALL - if they are found with any food that is not approved it will be sent home with a note. Sandwiches are ok, but only with approved fillings (eg meat & salad is ok, jam/jelly or nutella is not allowed). No high sugar flavoured milk etc.
My wife made a batch of banana bran muffins (low sugar, all natural, high fibre, wholemeal) and they were sent home!! I sent it back and said if you can find something healthier show me... otherwise STFU and let me provide nutritional food for my child as I see fit!
I'm glad they are taking steps to improve nutrition and awareness, but geez!0 -
:grumble: Yes we have been here before and it's still so fatty,so sugary,so expenceive so full of salt acually total cr@p the school dinners,i know you are in the states but i'm in the uk, the goverments don't get it thats how the kids are gonna get bigger and unhealthy! But the goverment just want to say no to some of the big firms and stop letting them take the p/ss out of us all!
It's not just school dinners tho its all foods we eat,cerial in the mornings,bread,OMG i could go on for ever! :explode: :sad:0 -
Our elementary schools offer crap and if you don't want that they offer Smuckers Uncrustables PB&J sandwiches. Our junior high and high schools offer a variety of crap including fast food pizza and hamburgers, cup of noodle, vending machines with soda and candy and chips and cookies. They also have a "fruit and veggie bar" which normally consists of canned peaches and maybe one fresh fruit, some lettuce and some carrots.
We refuse to buy lunch for our children, if they want to eat that they have to pay for it themselves. I believe they have bought lunch 4 times this school year. Its not worth it to them to pay for crap food when they can take whatever they want from home. Thats exacrtly the way I like it.
When we got reduced price lunches I couldn't afford to feed them for what we paid for school lunch. Now I realize how much better off they would have been if we cut out something else to be able to afford to pack lunches.0 -
I live in Europe, but I just spent 2 years in the US. My two kids attended primary school in North Carolina. The school lunches were OK. However, what really got me was the following:
1 - Snack foods were everywhere, so kids had easy access to Cokes, cakes, chips, etc. It was not free, but kids always find a way to sneak in money. And in some cases, the lunch credit could be used for these items. This is often promoted by the school, as they are being paid money by large corporations to stock these terrible foods. It's disgusting.
2 - The teachers themselves were constantly giving out candy as rewards. This drove me crazy. Most teachers had a big bowl of candy right on their desks. "Great Johnny, thanks for being good today, have some candy." I wanted to scream. I literally had to implement a system where my kids could exchange their candy rewards for money that they could use to buy toys (Pokemon cards, etc.). And of course I complained constantly to the school administrators, who eventually viewed me as a crackpot.
3 - The school had the option of ordering a special take out meal one day a week, which consisted of fast food! Pizza, KFC, etc. Yes, they also offered a healthy option, after some parents complained. But who is going to eat a salad and fish when little Susie next to them is eating Pizza Hut?? I just had to bite the bullet and let them have fast food that one day, since everyone else in their class was chomping away at pizza.
4 - The parents (!!!) often brought fast food to their kids during lunchtime. Literally drove to school with the food. And it was always crappy fast food. One poor girl who was terribly overweight (this was the 2nd grade) got Taco Bell everyday from her (surprise, also overweight) mother. I asked her about it once, in a nice way. She said that it's all her daughter would eat!!! Now there's a great example of parenting.... You can imagine how doubly hard it became to convince my kids to eat baked chicken, rice, and lettuce when the girl next to them is chowing down on Taco Bell every single day (and my God does that food smell terrible).
It was the south in the US, where so many people seem to be overweight. But it was the school itself that encouraged this. The ignorance was just unbelievable. They were literally teaching an entire generation of kids how NOT to eat.
The head administrator herself was 300 pounds minimum. Again, clueless.
--Prahasaurus0 -
And let me stress that I'm not against snacks, cakes, pizza, even fast food, etc., for my kids, occasionally. Kids are kids, they need to have fun,a and I don't want to prevent them from eating anything, as then later they will crave those foods even more.
My issue was the prevalence of this food at the school. It was a daily assault. How to tell your kids some foods are unhealthy when their own teacher was encouraging it?
The schools should be helping parents teach their kids about healthy eating, not undermining our efforts.
--Prahasaurus0 -
Quick post haven't read everything, but Dixon Montessori in California has a great program for kids lunches as does many of the schools in Davis, CA - organic healthy choices0
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I can proudly say my 13yr old has never eaten a school lunch in her life. I wake up 1hr early each morning and pack a hot lunch in a thermos container each morning and have for years. Coming from a Caribbean background this was traditional how we send our kids to school. With a hot lunch, a box juice (half veg and juice) and a fruit snack. I continue this tradition to this day with my child. I even pack a lunch for my spoilt husband. His in a regular container since he has a microwave in the office.
My kids lunches are so famous that I get special request from the kids at her table.0 -
I found an interesting homemade alternative to lunchables here that are healthier and cheaper:
http://www.squawkfox.com/2011/09/09/lunchables/
Gave me some neat ideas!0 -
Would anyone be interested in a PDF booklet on healthy and affordable school lunches?
I was thinking of doing research at schools and putting one together..................... I would love to share it if anyone is interested.0 -
We are fortunate enough to have my oldest in a private school and my youngest in a program where they actually do give them healthy foods. My oldest gets 'hot lunch' 2 days a week. On Tuesday it is a local restaurant or fast food (tacos, real hot dogs, roasted chicken) and then fresh fruit, veggies, milk or juice. On Friday it is 1 or 2 pieces of pizza and fresh fruit or veggies. We choose some of these lunches for him, otherwise, we pack everything ourselves. The public school lunches here are horrible. Things I would never feed my family and my kids have never seen. (And what we eat is far from perfect)0
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lucky me
I went to school in poland
and never ever had junk food for lunch
it was always:
soup,
main meal (meet/fish, starchy carbs, side of vegs - big side of vegs, at least same amount as meat)
kompota - not sure what the name is in English, it's juice obtained by boiling fruit untill all the juice goes int water, with sugar added)
fruit for dessert - i think it was always fruit for whole 8 years, no matter if it was friday, day before holiday... food (junk food) as a treat was not an option, we didn't have vending machines neither
Now I live in Spain, here they to serve junk food on Fridays in school cafeteria, but every other day, it's pretty healthy0 -
Here in Norway, most schools don't offer lunches at all. Kids bring their own lunches, usually a sandwich that is made of two slices of dark bread and some cheese/nutella/jam, usually made by the kid herself. They get free fruit at school and the parents can pre pay a small carton of milk for them. They are not allowed to bring snacks or candy at all, unless it is a special occasion.
It is not super healthy, but from my viewpoint a much much better option than some of the school lunches you write about. Lunch does not have to be fancy and complicated. it has to be filling and good enough for the kid to get through a school day.0 -
Not read all the replies, and I'm in the UK, sons school as fantastic school dinners, lots of variety, healthy stuff and always a decent vegetarian option too (hes not, but I like noticing they are catering for all).
They are 1.90 pounds per day, and includes drink and desert as well, which ranges from yogurts, to slightly less healthy things as they believe kids need to have their interest kept, but on the whole its healthy, its cooked fresh at the school and I see the butchers and greengrocers deliver every morning when I drop him off.
He is never allowed to use lunch credit for anything else, sometimes he takes snack money, or takes his own fruit etc for snacks, which is all they are allowed at break time, fruit or cereal bars and such like.
Some days he takes packed lunch, and has sandwiches/fruit (normally 2 different), yogurt, and a bar of some kind or crips, I try and keep it varied, other times, something will get substituted for things like Dairy Lea Pots, or such like, cut up cucumber and other things he likes and send little pots of that sometimes, he likes cold sausage rolls and things like that so even if its not heated, its something a bit different.0 -
lucky me
I went to school in poland
and never ever had junk food for lunch
it was always:
soup,
main meal (meet/fish, starchy carbs, side of vegs - big side of vegs, at least same amount as meat)
kompota - not sure what the name is in English, it's juice obtained by boiling fruit untill all the juice goes int water, with sugar added)
fruit for dessert - i think it was always fruit for whole 8 years, no matter if it was friday, day before holiday... food (junk food) as a treat was not an option, we didn't have vending machines neither
Now I live in Spain, here they to serve junk food on Fridays in school cafeteria, but every other day, it's pretty healthy
REALLY starting to think I would be in much better shape if I lived in another country ^^^^ this is a perfect example
So between my bad diet and lack of good weather (I'm in the UK) which means your not inclinded to be out and about doing outdoor activities /sports and spend time trying to stay warm and cozy.
but i digress ....0 -
The Czech school lunches are great, as well, at least at my kids' primary school: soup, meat, sauce, veggies, dumplings, rice, etc. Served hot, etc. My kids enjoy the food, no issues. Meals are cheap, subsidized by the state. It's also standard for the kids to bring a snack to school, which they usually eat around 10 am. Typically a small ham/salami sandwich, an apple, etc. And it's common here for the kids to get another small snack after school (fruit, yogurt, occasionally cookies). Most families have light dinners, as lunch is typically the main meal.
It's also quite an athletic school, much more so than in the US. My 9-year old son is on their hockey team, and they practice every day for at least an hour. During the off season, they train after school (field hockey, soccer, gymnastics).
My daughter is on the figure skating team, and also trains in the off season with the the girls on her team (running, gymnastics, strength training). There are very few overweight kids at this school, believe me. My problem with my kids is getting enough food in them, to be honest.
They are both training about 6-8 hours per week at the school, for the entire school year. And these are very intense trainings, with coaches, etc. Compare that to the US, where PE is usually once a week, very casual, and even that is being cut back dramatically.
The US has really lost the plot on children's health, and the schools are not helping the parents much at all, with some notable exceptions.
--Prahasaurus0 -
One of my nephews has school dinners and the other packed lunch.
The school dinners nephew often tells us of combinations such as 'fish and yorkshire pudding', as well describing what he's had by colour and texture (the yellow gooey cake with crunchy soft stuff on top... lemon meringue?). At this school, it seems the really need to regulate combinations so the children are getting a healthy balance. Bear in mind they run around in the playground after lunch, so would something a bit more slow release than a yorkshire be better? And why is he not told what his meals are called?
The packed lunch nephew gets in trouble as my sister makes him tuna pastas etc, where the dinner ladies insist he needs something 'easier' to eat (i.e. they can't be bothered to help him clean up after) like a sandwich.
When I finished high school they changed the rules so you could only buy biscuits and cakes if you bought a dinner object (like a sandwich etc). They weren't turning over enough profit and sold biscuits on the sly anyway.
There's a girl just had her blog taken down, which showed ratings and pictures of her school dinners - some of the combinations there are scary!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-184727950 -
Interesting that you should bring this topic up. Something happened recently in Scotland that has raised this issue, thought you might be interested. A council in Scotland banned a nine year old girl from taking photos of her school dinners to post on a blog she was writing where she rated her meals each day. The blog was helping raise money for meals in Africa and part of the blog involved school children sending in pics of their school meals. A national newspaper ran an article on it (using an inflammatory headline) and the next thing is the council tried to ban her taking photos. Obviously they didn't care for the negative publicity.
There was an outcry and the council were forced into retracting the ban. The extra publicity the story gained raised an extra £60,000 and counting for the charity.
You can check out the story. The girls name was Martha Payne and her blog is 'never seconds.blogspot.co.uk'
Perhaps one of your kids could start something similar...it might shame the providers of your child's school meals into making changes. Jamie Oliver got involved in this story over here, I'm sure he would be interested in helping out. It's amazing what people power can achieve!
X0 -
As for cookies, my kids love Oreos. But they don't sell there here like in the US, in bulk, where the kids can open the package and eat many, many cookies in one sitting.
You basically buy them here by the box, with each box containing four packages of Oreos, each package with four cookies in them. Long story short, they get four Oreos at a time, and that's it. So they're happy they get cookies, but I know they can't eat any more than four. Win, win.
It's probably more expensive to buy them this way, but I strongly recommend it if it's available in the US. It really lets the parent manage the portion sizes, and trains the kids (I hope) that four cookies is a proper snack.
--Prahasaurus0 -
Yeah, school lunches in the UK are really quite good at the moment. The little boy I work with has choices from things like salmon fillet, or roast vegetable tart, with veg, and a pudding, which includes fruit. Theyre really getting good with it over here, no more 'meat', beetroot and lumpy mash followed by spotted ****!0
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I'm a teacher at the school my daughter attends and it's a struggle. Ours is probably middle of the road in terms of nutrition---we don't have a salad bar sadly but they do make nutritional information easily available, don't allow bags of chips, offer a premade salad and yogurt as options, and three hot lunches. But they're still nasty. Many kids at our school get free or reduced price lunch and so many kids buy lunches. My DD wants to at times to be like the other kids in her class. I usually give her the option to buy lunch once a week and the rest of the week pack a lunch (no microwave for her, although I could probably take the lunch down and microwave it myself but I don't want her to get a special exception because I'm there). I send pretty much the same stuff as everyone else but do try to liven it up with a fun note or something cool. We had a discussion this year about why I don't want her to buy lunch all the time and actually, all the other school employees got in on it too because they think it's nasty as well. I think it was the school secretary who finally clinched the deal when she pointed out to DD that we all know there were bugs at the school,right? DD nodded. Secretary leaned over and asked where did DD think the bugs came from? DD's eyes got big, she went pale, and clutched her lunchbox a bit tighter.0
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This is a local issue and you CAN GET LOUD about improving quality. Other school districts have done it. Our lunches have gotten better every year - although kids can absolutely toss their healthy home lunches and eat junk if they put their mind to it. That's a two part problem - the schools sell junk and the kids want to buy it.
The reason our school lunches have gotten better is loud input from health conscious parents. Usually the head of the school lunch problem can be talked into backing them. So will the gym teachers. Work with the science teachers as well.
The district has to back you and decide that it's better to have healthy kids and worth hiring staff to serve better food. It's usually easiest to start by getting rid of bad food than putting in good food. So starting with getting rid of soda, artificial 'juice' boxes, and chips and putting in fruit is a beginning.
I used to tutor two elementary school kids who were morbidly obese - both brothers. It was really hard to keep them motivated and on-task. I confess to offer them candy as rewards. Slowly I came to see this was just dumb (though it worked). I tried them on orange slices (my kids love them) and they refused. So I started with where they were and got them on no sugar gum (with principal permission). Then found that they liked sesame crunch (better than candy). Slowly we worked towards healthier food.
The reason its so easy to get fat is that our bodies LOVE sugar and fat and salt. We're built for it. We have to educate our palates to also like other food.0 -
Interesting that you should bring this topic up. Something happened recently in Scotland that has raised this issue, thought you might be interested. A council in Scotland banned a nine year old girl from taking photos of her school dinners to post on a blog she was writing where she rated her meals each day. The blog was helping raise money for meals in Africa and part of the blog involved school children sending in pics of their school meals. A national newspaper ran an article on it (using an inflammatory headline) and the next thing is the council tried to ban her taking photos. Obviously they didn't care for the negative publicity.
There was an outcry and the council were forced into retracting the ban. The extra publicity the story gained raised an extra £60,000 and counting for the charity.
You can check out the story. The girls name was Martha Payne and her blog is 'never seconds.blogspot.co.uk'
Perhaps one of your kids could start something similar...it might shame the providers of your child's school meals into making changes. Jamie Oliver got involved in this story over here, I'm sure he would be interested in helping out. It's amazing what people power can achieve!
X
Say what you will about the US, but we definitely got the whole "freedom of speech" thing right. Now read this quickly, before a moderator locks it.0 -
Yeah, school lunches in the UK are really quite good at the moment. The little boy I work with has choices from things like salmon fillet, or roast vegetable tart, with veg, and a pudding, which includes fruit. Theyre really getting good with it over here, no more 'meat', beetroot and lumpy mash followed by spotted ****!
Hahaha. The software took the "d!ck" out of your "spotted d!ck." And thank God. I would have been completely offended otherwise. (Sarcasm rules.)0
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